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From review of the literature to mind map of the field

In a previous blog post, I explained how, after having done all the reading, I plot the literature (yes, by hand and doing mind mapping techniques) and then, based on this map, I write full paragraphs of the literature review. In this short blog post, I reverse my approach, and instead I show how you can map the literature and discern major research themes, trends and topics based on the paragraphs coming from a literature review. I will use Nielsen et al 2019 again on the politics of plastics as an example.

Mind-mapping and writing

My Twitter thread shows step-by-step how I go about this mapping process.

As anybody who reads my blog can tell, I LOVE mind maps. Mind-mapping is an extremely powerful technique to study, review the literature and write. There’s plenty of free software out there to create solid mind maps (I tried LucidChart and MindMapUp) or you can write them by hand, with colours, as I do.

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Posted in academia, reading strategies, research, writing.

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